Here We Go Again
by Cat414
Summary: The Expendables team needs to save Melanie again not only from her captors but from herself as well. Will Mel ever be the same? What will happen between her and Lee? Sequel to One More Time and final story of the Me and My Expendable Team trilogy. Disclaimer: I don't own the expendables.
1. Chapter 1

**Thanks for the reviews on my last story, I hope you enjoy this one as well.**

**Here We Go Again**

**Chapter 1**

Melanie's POV

I laid on the floor of my room bloody and hurting but it was alright I could handle it. Mentally I was broken, my spirit had been shattered when she...died. It was my fault she'd been murdered and right in front of the whole team.

I thought about them often, the team, Hale how he loved Nicole even though he didn't know her long, Barney let her into the team to find me and to keep her safe, yet she died, and Lee.

He was probably in pretty bad shape right now, the guilt on his face before he left; it looked painful. I felt guilt, a lot of it but grief and anger were mixed in as well.

Tony had no mercy for me anymore, he had broken my spirit now all he had to do was break me down to talk. I wouldn't though because he would kill me if I did and my anger towards him kept me going everytime I saw him.

I know my anger will run out at some point but for now I needed to conserve what energy I had so I could stay alive through my next session. I know the guys will come and save me just like when I first met them all those months ago.

Lee's POV

I felt bad for leaving them and not even going with them to bury her and give her a funeral but I had too. She was my responsibility, and I let her die. I've never been so angry at myself, I wanted to join her but Mel was still in danger.

Barney came to see me but I couldn't even look at him let alone talk to him. He had been stubborn though waiting me out, and trying to get me to talk it out but how can you talk about something like that?

After that the team had given me time alone, I thought of Mel and how she must be feeling; hurt, guilt, and maybe even scared too.

I picked up my phone for the first time in three days and dialed, "Hey."I said when he picked up.

Barney's POV

"Hey yourself." I said hearing Lee's voice on the other end, I'd been worried about him.

"How are you doing?"I asked,

"Better, has the wacko called at all?"he replied, I smiled he was ready to get back to work.

"No, not a word."I told him,

"Alright, I'll be over in a little while. I need to go somewhere first."he informed me.

"See ya when you get here."I told him and we hung up.

At least Lee was doing better, the rest of the guys were alright even though Hale was mad half the time to cover up his emotions. All we needed now was to find the sob and get Melanie back.

Tony's POV

I was sure Melanie would break after I killed her cousin and continued the torture but nothing. She was stronger than I thought, I sat at my desk as I pondered my next move.

"Boss, may I have a word sir?"Scott's voice asked from the doorway.

"You may."I replied and he came in to sit in front of my desk.

"Sir, you've been trying to get the prisoner to talk by causing her pain. I was thinking why don't you use fear? You know what hers is."he said.

I smiled, "Great idea Scott, I've got a plan. Bring the girl to the torture room one last time."I told him.

He stood up, "Thank you sir, yes sir."he said and left the room.

Melanie's POV

"Come on."Scott said tugging my arm, I'd gotten to know his name because Tony often asked him for the next weapon. I went along with him, once in the torture room he shoved me to the mat like he always did.

I stayed on my feet looking around for Tony, he came in momentarily from the same door we had come through.

"What happened on May 17th three years ago?" he asked me just like everytime we did this, I didn't say anything. I was still puzzled by the question.

"Always the hard way."he muttered loud enough for me to hear.

Tony went to the bench of weapons and picked one up, he swung around and I could see the baseball bat in his hands. I braced myself for impact as he drew back to swing, the bat came forward and connected hard with my head.

I fell sideways down to the mat, I rubbed my head he usually didn't do that something was off. "This part of your new interrogation technique?" I asked.

"No, but you will see my new technique soon."he promised swinging again for my head, I rolled out of the way.

He tried again and I dodged, "Scott, hold her."he barked out his order.

Scott grabbed my arms and pulled me up before he held me firmly in place. Tony hit my head again, I saw stars and black on the edge of my vision but still stood. He hit me again and I was thrown into darkness, head first.

**Hope you like the first chapter.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks for the follow and favorite.**

**Chapter 2**

Tony's POV

I rode in the passenger seat as we headed for the warehouse where it would be the end for Melanie, and her team would be there to watch her fade away.

I looked back at Melanie; she still lay motionless across the back seat with Scott next to her in case she awakened. 'Time to call up her friends.'I thought; dialing the number for her leader.

Barney's POV

"Where's Mel?"I asked immediately after I picked up my phone. I got laughter in response, it frustrated me. He gave me directions again,

"We're not playing this game again."I warned him.

"You don't have a choice."he told me and hung up. I hit the end button and chucked my phone across the room, it hit the couch with a light thud.

"What is it?" Lee demanded on edge, he wanted to get Mel back as soon as possible.

"Directions to another damn warehouse." I told him.

"Not again." he groaned.

"We'll get her back, let's go!" I said aloud and we headed to the cars.

Lee's POV

'I cannot wait to get my hands on this guy and beat him to a pulp before stabbing him right through the heart.' I thought as we drove along.

I'd gone out to Nicole's grave and made peace by forgiving myslef for what had happened, the only thing I had left to do was get forgiveness from Melanie.

We arrived quickly at the warehouse going through the front door, I starred at Melanie as she hung upside down by her ankles from the catwalk above a stack of crates.

"Welcome gentlemen." Tony said from a catwalk above us to the left, we whipped around our guns trained on him.

He held up a little remote in his left hand, "Not so fast, I have detonators set on each side of the catwalk holding dear Melanie." he told us, smiling.

He looked in Mel's direction and it faded, "No way!" he shouted.

I turned around then, Melanie had lifted herself up enough to bring her hands up behind her legs and remove her blindfold and now she was working on the ropes around her wrists.

I smiled she was still fighting, that was a good sign.

Melanie's POV

I freed my hands and dropped down again tiredly, I was still hanging upside down but at least I had my hands free and that was better than I was a few minutes ago.

The cord holding me snapped and I barely had time to shift my position before hitting the crate below hard on my back. I groaned in pain stumbling to my feet,

"Jump!" Lee commanded, I jumped as two loud bangs sounded behind me and I landed in a tarp crushing the crate beneath it and hit the floor as the catwalk crashed into the crate I had just been standing on a minute ago.

Lee's POV

The bad guys scattered, I looked to the pile of crates that Mel was behind. I could tell it had taken all her strength just to jump off that crate before, she was probably hurt bad.

"We got her, you go after Tony!" Toll shouted to me as he, Yang and Gunnar headed in her direction.

I nodded heading for the ladder to the catwalk, out of the corner of my eye I could see Barney fighting the right hand man. Tony was running right towards me as I reached the top and cut him off.

"It takes a strong man to care for Melanie, let's see if you're strong enough." he said getting in a fighting stance.

I got in my fighting stance, though the catwalk didn't provide much space. We went at it; he tried to punch, I blocked and gave him a kick to the ribs and shoved him back.

"Not bad." he commented and pulled out his knife, I gladly pulled mine out.

He swiped for my chest, I leaned back away from the knife as he swept his leg under me; I fell on my back on the catwalk. Tony stood above me smiling even with my knife pointed at him.

"I find it amusing a man who kills murderers, would protect and love a killer." he said.

"What are you talking about?!" I demanded angrily.

"She didn't tell you? That doesn't surprise me. Melanie killed my son!" he told me yelling the last part as he raised his knife, I threw mine into his heart.

He dropped his knife and dropped backwards to the catwalk, I got up as Hale came over, we locked eyes for a moment and I nodded.

Hale picked the man up and threw him onto the broken piece of catwalk.

"That's for Nicole!" he shouted.

"Toll, how's Mel?" I asked as I hurried down the ladder,

"She's out cold, but she'll be ok. Just needs some rest and a few bandages." He replied as I walked up to them.

"Let's go home." Barney told us and headed out, it was finally over.

**Sorry for the late update, more to come.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Thanks for the review, really appreciate it!**

**Chapter 3**

**A few days later...**

Melanie's POV

I was doing up the dishes from breakfast when Lee came in,

"I thought I told you to rest." he said sternly taking the dish towel from my hands.

"I told you, I don't want to rest anymore. It's been three days Lee, my injuries have healed, I'm fine." I said stressing the last part.

I hadn't been allowed to do anything for three days because of my injuries, I could understand that, but there was no need for it now.

"Physically maybe, but mentally no way." he told me, I glared at him.

"I'm going for a walk, alone." I told him and went into the hallway for my running shoes.

"I can't let you do that." he said following me, I got my shoes on and looked at him.

"Just try and stop me!" I shot back and went out the door.

I paused at the end of my block and looked back but there was no one there.

'Thank you.' I thought and headed off to walk around the city for a while, I felt like I could walk forever.

Lee's POV

I let her go, she had been going for walks since the day after she got back, I think she thinks I don't know but I do; the whole team knows.

I locked up the house and went to see Barney at the shop, he always wanted to know what Mel was doing and after he heard about this he wouldn't be happy.

"Hey," I greeted as I joined him on the couch.

"Hey, how is she?" he asked as I knew he would.

"She's mad because she's been cooped up so long. She says she's fine, but she's avoiding talking about anything as much as she can." I replied.

"She's detaching herself from everything and everyone, not good. Where is she?" he said.

"Mel went for a walk around the city again." I told him, it looked like Mel was going into depression, I didn't think it was possible for her, out of all people.

He nodded, "We need to find her." he said getting up.

I got up and we went to the car,'It shouldn't take long to find her, how far could she have gotten?' I thought as we headed down the road.

Melanie's POV

I sat on the ledge of the bridge looking down at the river below, just thinking when someone yelled, "Don't jump!"

I turned my head to my right to see a man slowly coming towards me,

"I wasn't going to jump, I'm just thinking. Please leave me alone." I told him, he stopped a couple of feet away from me.

"I can't do that miss, whatever you're going through it's not worth taking your own life." he said.

I shook my head and turned back to the water; it was calm and still which to me was a pretty sight.

"I'm Chris, what's your name?" he continued on.

"Melanie." I told him, as I heard a car stop behind me and two doors slammed shut before I heard more voices.

"Mel, what the hell do you think you're doing?" Barney said with an under tone of anger.

"Thinking, or at least I was." I answered annoyed.

"Melanie, come back up here." Lee ordered.

"No, just leave." I told them.

"Can't do that Mel." Barney told me.

I put my hands on the edge as if to push myself off.

"We can back off, just don't jump." Chris said.

"We're not going anywhere, that's my girlfriend." Lee told him.

I let my breath out in a huff, 'Looks like my alone time is over.' I thought getting up.

Lee offered his hand to help me over the fence, I gripped the steel pipe running along the top and jumped over it, landing beside him.

I looked to Chris, "Thanks," I said simply.

"No problem, my wife's a shrink. If you need someone to talk to." he said giving me her card. I nodded and he headed off down the bridge.

"Come on." Lee said opening the door for me to get in the car as Barney circled around to the other side.

I got in the car, Lee got in beside me. As we pulled away I said, "I've done that each time, I've gone out." that earned me two angry glares.

"What?" I asked innocently.

Lee's POV

I couldn't believe it, Melanie was out doing stuff like this and we didn't notice, she was slipping away from us.

We arrived back at Tool's but the guys weren't there so we sat on the couch together Mel in the middle with one of us on each end.

"Melanie, you've got to talk to us about what happened with Tony and Nicole."I said starting us off.

She shook her furiously, not saying anything.

"You can't go on like this, either shape up and start moving on like you did before or you're off the team."Barney told her, and at this point I actually found myself agreeing with him.

Mel merely shrugged; she didn't care anymore.

"Melanie, you're going to lose everything if you don't change your attitude."I informed her, she looked around the room.

"It wouldn't be a huge loss."she said, anger surged me in that moment.

"Not a huge loss? We've become like a family to you and after everything we've been through, you're just going to toss us aside?"I asked her not hiding my anger anymore.

"Maybe."she said but this time she hesitated, maybe she did still care.

I ran my hand over my face in frustration before asking my last question.

"Could you right now walk away from me and not look back?"I asked hoping for her to say no.

Melanie's POV

I knew I couldn't walk away from Lee, technically I couldn't walk away from the team either but I was so broken and lost I didn't know what to do anymore.

"No, I couldn't but I'm a wreck Lee. You've seen that, especially today."I replied.

"Yeah I did, but you're still here. What about making an appointment with the shrink?"he said looking relieved, so did Barney.

I bit my lip, "I don't know Lee."I told him with a shake of my head.

"Too bad, you're going whether you like it or not."he said reaching over and taking the card from my pocket. He took out his phone and dialed, he talked a little and then hung up.

"Tomorrow afternoon at three and you're going even if I have to drag you kicking and screaming."he informed me.

I got up hotly and went over to stand in front of the knife board, knife in hand. I threw it angrily, it stuck in the middle of the board, I walked out going home to vent out some more.

**Thoughts? More reviews please.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Thanks for the review, follows and favorites, keep them coming!**

**Chapter 4**

Melanie's POV

My phone rang for the fifth time when I got annoyed enough to pick it up.

"Hi Lee, what do you want?"I said he'd been calling me ever since I got home.

"Hey Mel, what makes you think I want something?"he replied,

"If you don't need anything, I'm going to hang up."I told him.

"Don't do that, I need to know that you're ok. Are you ok?"he said concern was evident in his voice.

"Yeah, I'm ok. I'll see you tomorrow, goodnight."I told him.

"Goodnight Melanie."he said and hung up.

The next morning my mind was still in a haze trying to get everything straight and wrap around the idea of a shrink. Someone that was going to play around with my head and get me to talk about everything I've shut myself off from.

'Sounds like loads of fun.'I thought miserably as I got some breakfast. I wasn't really all that hungry but I woudn't want to fall alseep during the session or something.

The rest of the morning consisted of a workout and cleaning the basement. It was full of boxes that I didn't know if they were empty or not, shelves full of odds and ends, and some other things. Keeping busy was a good thing because that way I didn't think about what I was going to be doing at three in the afternoon.

"Melanie!"Lee's voice called from above in the kitchen.

"In the basement!"I yelled back, I'd gotten some boxes sorted out but a lot of them still stood in the way to the closet.

I heard Lee's footsteps as he came downstairs, "Hey, I thought maybe you'd like to grab lunch somewhere before we go for your appointment."he said crossing the room to stand beside me.

"Hi, sure might as well enjoy a little freedom."I said bitterly.

"Come on Mel, it's not as bad as you think."he told me as we went upstairs.

"Right."I said my voice dripping with sarcasm, Lee frowned.

We got in the car and he took me to Cafe 99; the place of our first date. I turned to him,

"Why here?"I asked not exactly happy with our destination.

"I brought you here because I thought you'd relax a little."he replied hotly before we got out of the car and went inside.

"Look I know you're not big on the whole shrink thing but give Taylor a chance. She wants to help you, Mel, just like the rest of us."he said after we were seated.

"Yeah, I know that." I said eyeing the egg salad sandwich on the menu. He picked up his menu seeming content for the moment.

We ordered the food and not long after Lee's phone rang,

"Hello."he answered.

"Sure, we can do that."he said and waited.

He nodded, "Alright, see you soon."he said and hung up.

I waited for him to explain, "That was Taylor; she had a cancelation and asked if we could come early. I said sure."he explained, I leaned my head into my hand.

'Great, so now I can go through this even sooner, just great.'I thought mildly wishing I could just disappear.

Lee's POV

I knew Melanie wasn't happy about this but it was for her own good. I took her free hand in mine,

"It'll be ok." I told her and squeezed her hand.

She lifted her head but didn't smile, "Yeah, by this time next week I'll be just peachy." she said before our food arrived and she bit into her sandwich.

I ate my meal but it wasn't easy what with Melanie acting so mad and sarcastic at the same time. I paid for us and we headed off to see Taylor.

"Hello Lee, Melanie, come on in." she said when she opened the door for us a little while later.

We went inside the house, it was a little weird that her office was at home but I wasn't about to judge her.

"Can I get you anything?" she offered as we stood in the living room, I could see Chris behind her in the kitchen, he smiled at us.

"No, thank you." I said, Melanie shook her head.

"Alright, Melanie could you go wait in my office? While I talk to Lee for a minute." she said pointing to a door across the hall.

Melanie merely shrugged and went in the room closing the door with a slam, I looked to Taylor.

"Sorry about that, she's angry because I kind of forced her into this." I told her.

"Don't worry I'm used to it, how was she this morning?" she said.

"Irritable, cleaning, and she didn't talk much." I replied as best I could.

Taylor nodded, "Thank you." she told me and went off into her office.

"Taylor's one of the best." Chris told me, I looked at him surprised he was talking to me, before I crossed the room and sat at the table.

"Melanie's one of the most stubborn woman I've ever met." I warned him, he chuckled and sat down with me.

Melanie's POV

I was sitting on the bench at the bay window when I heard the door open behind me; I didn't turn around.

"Nice view isn't it?" Taylor commented, I nodded in agreement.

"I see you're the quiet type that's ok. However keeping everything inside and pushing everyone away isn't good Melanie. You don't have to talk about what's upset you so much but please talk about something." she said and took a seat at her desk.

I continued looking out the window and my eyes fell on the river and the bridge from yesterday.

"How long is this session?" I asked her, wanting to go back to the bridge to help me think, I wasn't ready for this.

"I have you scheduled for an hour." she replied, glancing at my watch I saw that I had another fifty minutes.

"This doesn't feel like a shrink office." I commented and went to the couch stretching across it.

"It's not supposed to, I made it this way to make my clients feel more comfortable." she explained.

"I get it; make them more comfortable so they're more likely to talk to you. Not so much for me, it doesn't matter where I am or what's around me. I only talk if I want to." I told her.

"That's fine, all we have is time." she informed me,

'Not all of us.' I thought and pushed it away.

Lee's POV

I sat in the living room waiting for Melanie to be done; Chris had left for work half an hour ago.

My phone rang, "Hey Barney," I answered.

"Hey, how's it going?" he said as I figured he would.

"I don't know, they won't be done for another twenty minutes." I replied eyeing the door.

"Bring Mel by Tool's when you're done." he ordered.

"Will do." I said and we hung up. I flipped on the tv out of boredom and continued to wait for Mel.

Melanie's POV

I'd been quiet for a long while gazing around the room at the different pictures and paintings hanging on the walls and not at Taylor because honestly I didn't like her.

One painting of a mother and her baby caught my eye, well it was more the quote than the painting.

"A new life is born, a life is taken away. The journey of life is long, and hard but make the best of your journey before it's gone."

"Where did you get that?" I asked pointing to it, she smiled.

"I made it,do you like it?" she answered.

"Yeah, especially the quote." I told her.

"Interesting, not a lot of people do or even understand it." she said. I nodded, and finally looked at Taylor.

"I can't do this yet, I'm not ready." I confessed and moved to the window again taking a breath, willing myself not to cry.

"It's ok Melanie, you told me which is a small step forward. I'll let you go now, but when you are ready please call me." she said coming to the window but she didn't touch me, I was thankful for it.

"Thank you, I will I promise." I said as we crossed the room.

"No problem." she said and opened the door. Lee came over to us but I didn't feel like dealing with him so I went straight out the door.

Lee's POV

She just left, I turned to Taylor confused.

"She isn't ready yet for all this Lee, give her more time and let her decide when to have her next appointment." she told me.

"Thanks." I said and headed out to go after Mel.

"Don't mention it." she said behind me from the door before I jumped in the car.

I drove down the road a couple blocks and found Melanie at the park sitting on one of the benches. I pulled over and parked on the roadside before going over to her.

"Hey," I said gently she looked up at me and slid over almost crushing me in a hug.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." she whispered, I rubbed her back.

"I know." I whispered before she jerked away from me and ran off across the park.

'Melanie, what is going on with you?' I thought utterly shocked that she'd run away from me.

**Review please, let me know what you think of this.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Barney's POV

I jumped in the car as soon as Lee told me what'd happened with Melanie. I called Toll and he got the guys out looking for Mel, Lee had even gone back and asked Taylor for her help; she said she would.

Lee and Taylor were covering her area and the river, while the guys and I made search patterns around the city.

"Melanie, what are you doing?" I asked aloud as I sat at a red light.

On green I moved on to search the next block giving special attention to parks and bridges.

Toll's POV

We had all tried calling Melanie but her phone was off, I'm sure the other guys left messages of their own but I left one anyway.

I drove towards the library, Melanie often loved to read books especially when she wanted to escape what's going on in the real world, I hoped she was there.

"We can't lose her too." I said to myself as the library came into view over the bridge, I looked more closely at the bridge in case she was on it somewhere but nothing.

It was getting dark, I knew we wouldn't give up until we found her but the darkness sure didn't help us.

I pulled into the library parking lot and hurried inside.

"Toll, what are you doing here?" asked Henry from behind the counter.

"I'm looking for Melanie, have you seen her?" I replied looking around.

"No, sorry I haven't. If I do I'll let you know." he said.

"Thanks." I told him and hurried back outside.

Someone was sitting in my car, I crept around to the passenger side and knocked on the window. The figure rose its head and turned to me; it was Melanie.

I hurried around to my side of the car and got in the driver's seat looking Melanie over.

"Melanie, are you hurt?" I asked alarmed, cupping her head in my hands.

"Nah man, I'm feeling good."she replied smiling like crazy;she was drunk.

"Melanie! What's wrong with you?"I asked angrily and left go of her head.

"Nothing, I just feel so good. Can we go shoot some pool?"she answered and bounced on the seat like a little kid excited to go for a ride.

"No, I'm taking you to Lee's place."I told her and put the car in gear heading for the road.

"You're no fun, Toll,come on we should all have drinks at Lee's and just let loose!"she said excitedly and turned up the radio, I turned it off.

"No, and leave the radio off. I need to call the guys."I said and took out my phone.

"I've got her,meet me at Lee's."I said when Barney picked up.

"Good work Toll, we'll be there."he said and hung up as did I.

Melanie turned on the radio again but kept it at a moderate level,

"It's nice to just forget everything for a few hours and just get drunk to actually live."she said, now she wasn't making sense.

I shook my head, "What happened to you?"I muttered.

"I've been drinking for four or five hours and I'm really drunk right now." she answered and turned up the radio before she started singing along to a song called, "Bottoms Up."

I drove a little faster, now I knew what kind of drunk Mel was; an annoying one.

Melanie's POV

I could see that Toll was super annoyed by me but I didn't really care, for the first time since I got home I was happy.

I turned down the radio after the song ended but I was bored, sure I was buzzed like there was no tomorrow, though there was no point if I had nothing to do with the energy.

Toll pulled into Lee's a short while later and I rushed inside with an idea of what I could do with all this energy;bake.

In the kitchen I grabbed a bowl,measuring cups and spoons, and a muffin tray before searching for the ingridients.

"Mel, what are you doing?"Toll asked as he leaned against the pantry door.

"I'm making cupcakes, can you check what icing we have in there?"I said as I took the eggs out of the fridge.

He opened the door and looked up and down, "Red, white and blue."he told me.

"Sounds good."I said preheating the oven before I started mixing everything together.

The guys and Taylor came in as I was mixing, they all looked at me confused.

"She's making cupcakes."Toll explained to them as I turned off the mixer.

"Would you like some help?"Taylor offered,

"I think I can handle this doc."I replied scooping out the batter into the cups as they sat around the table, Lee came over to me.

"Are you alright?"he asked me as I put the cupcakes in the oven.

"Yes, I'm perfectly fine."I said and wobbled a little when I closed the oven door. "Maybe I'm a little drunk."I said and giggled at that because I wasn't a little drunk, I was really drunk!

Lee scowled as I set the timer and he brought me over to the table.

Lee's POV

"Where did you go?"I asked her, she was becoming pretty unpredictable lately and she was changing; I didn't like it at all.

She smirked, "Joey's."she said smoothly like she'd been there a hundred times before.

"Why did you do it Mel? Too much pressure?"Barney asked her, giving her a steady stare.

Melanie jumped up from her chair, her normally kind and caring eyes flashing with anger.

"I did it so I wouldn't have to feel anymore!" she yelled, and continued to shout.

"None of you know what it was like for me then, and you don't know how I'm feeling now! So stop trying to get me to feel, turn on or let my feelings in because it would destroy me!"she finished and banged the table with her fist.

I grabbed her forearms and turned her to face me, "Maybe not but Mel you're not living your life like you're supposed too. It hurts I know, it hurts so bad you may even want to just die, I felt that way before but thinking of you and the team."I paused for a breath and continued.

"That's what got me to keep going, deal with my emotions and move on. You need to do that too, let your emotions go and move on, so you can live your life again."I finished but it didn't look like it sank in since she still looked angry.

"Let me point it this way; you've changed a lot Mel, you're not the woman I asked to be my girlfriend, you're not the woman Barney welcomed onto the team, and you're not the woman that I love."I told her, completely serious.

She jerked one hand free to cover her mouth for a minute before moving it. "You're not serious."she said in a drunk tone.

"I'm completely serious, come morning you'll see."I told her and headed upstairs.

Barney's POV

The room was quiet for a few moments as we all took in what had just happened. The timer sounded and Mel moved to turn it off and turn the cupcakes before setting the timer again.

"Why don't you guys head home?" Taylor asked the team and explained. "Barney and I will stay with Melanie."

The team didn't argue, they got up and left without a word, the only sound was their cars driving off down the road.

Melanie left the kitchen and went to another room in the house so it was just me and Taylor.

"She's pushed him too far, and now she's going to lose him."I said.

Taylor nodded, "Yes she is, but sometimes to get someone back to the way they were, you have to take away what they value most so they'll fight to get it back."she said in explanation.

"Yeah, if it doesn't break them apart for good first."I said and got up for a drink.

I took a coke from the fridge, "Can I get you something?"I asked her.

"No, I'm alright, thanks."she replied.I sat back down and opened the can taking a big mouthful.

"Lee and Melanie are both strong, they'll be okay."Taylor said but I didn't find it to be too much comfort.

The timer went off, she got up and took care of it when Melanie didn't come within a few minutes, I went to look for her.

Melanie was in the office passed out on the couch, with a blanket wrapped around her. I put another blanket at the foot of the couch in case she got cold but by the looks of it she'd asleep for a while.

I returned to the kitchen, Lee sat at the table with Taylor.

"Hey."I greeted, and sat next to Lee, across from Taylor.

Lee nodded, "Mel's passed out in the office on the couch."I informed them.

"That's good, she's had quite the day."Taylor commented.

Lee's POV

The only reason I came downstairs was to get a drink, Taylor asked me to stay so I did and now no one's talking.

"I'm going to bed, you two can do whatever you want."I told them getting up.

"I'm going to finish the cupcakes for Mel and then I'll head home."Taylor told me, while Barney nodded.

I nodded and went upstairs, 'Tomorrow is another day, but it's gonna be a rough one.'I thought as I went in the bedroom for the night.

**Read and review please, hope you liked it.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Melanie's POV

When I woke up next my head was pounding and I wasn't sure where I was at first, looking around at the books in the room. I sat up making my head hurt even more, I clenched it in my hands and tried to think.

'I went to Joey's for a drink, I had a lot to drink. Toll brought me to Lee's.I must've passed out on the couch.' I concluded as it all came back to me, including my fight with Lee.

I got up slowly and made my way to the kitchen stumbling along the way. I managed to get some coffee, and saw that it was one-thirty in the afternoon,

'Wow, I must have drank a lot last night.' I thought sipping my coffee.

Passing by the doorway I saw two bags with an envelope sitting on top of them, I went over for a closer look;it was for me. I picked it up and drifted back into the kitchen to sit at the table before opening it.

I read over the note;

_Dear Melanie,_

_I have thought about this all night, and I can't be with you anymore not when you're like this. Get out of my house, don't try to see me, and don't try to talk to me. _

_Come back and see me when you have made up your mind, goodbye Mel._

_Lee_

My hands were shaking and tears filled my eyes as my throat ached for the longing to cry but I didn't. Instead I went upstairs and checked that Lee hadn't missed any of my things before going back to the bags gripping them in my hands, and going out the door.

At my own house, I dropped the bags in the living room and hurried upstairs for a shower. I felt better after that and went for a drive.

Lee's POV

I was pacing the floor at Tool's wondering if Melanie had made it home alright, Barney watched me as I paced from one side of the room to the other my eyes landing on Mel's knife every now and then.

"Lee, call her." he told me, I shook my head.

"Why not?" he asked,

"I broke up with her, calling her now. Wouldn't that be a sign of weakness?" I replied.

"You're asking the wrong guy on that, but you are friends with her." he said, it didn't help me much.

"I'm going to see if she left my place, and check on her house." I informed him and left.

The bags were gone I found out when I got inside, the only sign Mel had been there at all was the coffee maker. I checked the kitchen and found that she'd left the cupcakes behind, maybe she forgot them but then again she had to walk home too.

I headed out again to check her house, things were quiet on the mission front which wasn't unusual and given everything, it's a nice break.

Mel's bike wasn't in the driveway, I hoped she didn't do something stupid, I sped off for Tool's my mind was a little more at ease.

Melanie's POV

I pulled up and parked on the street before my destination, I sat on my bike still unsure if this was the best place for me right now.

The door opened and Chris came out, "Melanie, come on in."he invited.

"Hi Chris."I greeted and went inside with him.

"I'll admit I'm a little surprised to see you here. Taylor told me all what happened last night, she'll be done with her client in a few minutes."he said, I frowned.

"What happened to confidentiality?"I asked not bothering to be polite.

"Last night wasn't a session."he replied and went into the kitchen.

I was going to follow him but Taylor and her client came out of her office just then. They said their goodbyes and the client left before she turned to me.

"Melanie, is there something I can do for you?"she said, obviously she didn't expect to see me either just like Chris.

"Hi Taylor, yes there is."I replied, she nodded and I told her,

"I want to have weekly sessions with you, the only thing I ask is that you tell no one."

"Alright, how about Fridays at three?"she said,

"Sure, see you on Friday."I told her and left, being with her made me nervous but I got done what I needed to do. I just had another stop to make and then I could do whatever I wanted for the day.

I pulled into Tool's and cut my engine, before heading inside.

'Simple in and out.'I thought as I entered, Lee and Barney looked up at me,I met their eyes for a minute before we all looked away and I headed to the knife board.

Pulling out my knife, my fingers ran over the handle and the blade, I smiled to myself remembering when I got the knife.

"Are you alright?"Barney asked, breaking my train of thought.

"Yeah, I'm okay."I answered, I saw Lee shake his head from where he sat on the couch but I didn't say anything as much as I wanted to.

Barney nodded, "Are you going to drop by later? The guys miss you."he asked.

"Sure," I replied and directed my voice to Lee.

"You going to be around tonight Christmas?"I asked him.

He turned so he could see me, "Maybe, why?"he answered.

"I thought we could have a knife throwing contest, we haven't had one for a while."I said casually.

"Alright."he agreed.

"I have to go, later."I said and went outside.

'So much for simple.'I thought, hopping on my bike.

**Next chapter should be more interesting.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Thanks for the review, follow, and favorite. Here's a chapter with more Barney in it for Pokung16!**

**Chapter 7**

Barney's POV

Later that night Melanie showed up around eight, dressed in her regular attire; black jeans and a dark red t-shirt with her black leather jacket.

"Hey Mel!" I called to her as she shrugged out of her jacket.

She smiled, "Hey Barney, pass me a beer would you."she said as she came to sit with me, the others hadn't arrived yet.

I went to the fridge and pulled a couple beers for us, I popped off the caps and passed hers to her as I sat down myself.

"I want to talk to you about your position on the team."I told her taking a swig.

She nodded and gave me her full attention, she set her beer on the table after barely taking a sip of it.

"Well, the truth is Mel you're a great asset to this team and we all miss you. Though for you to remain on the team I need you to be in top form. You aren't right now, answer me this; are you going to be?"

I explained to her the best I could, hoping she understood.

Melanie was quiet at first and had some more beer before she replied,

"I will be Barney, I need some time."she paused and looked into my eyes, clearly trying to decide whether to tell me something or not, she nodded to herself and spoke again.

"I'm seeing Taylor for weekly sessions, once everything is figured out and we agree I can come back to work, I'll come to you and you get the final say if I'm fit to work or not."she confessed.

'Looks like Lee's choice was worth it.'I thought as I let it sink in. Melanie was getting help under her own conditions and she was getting better already since she agreed to see everybody and came as promised.

"How long will it take? I need to know how long we'll be short a team member."I said, knowing our missions and planning would be different without her. Mel was like a piece of each of us put into one person, she had good planning skills too.

"A month, two at most."she replied rather quickly, I raised my eyebrows questioningly.

"Alright, I'm not sure how long it'll take but I figure that's an accurate guess."she told me, I nodded as the door opened and the guys came in.

"Hey guys, look who's here."I said aloud as Mel and I got up and turned to look at the guys a big smile on her face; it wasn't forced either.

"Melanie!"they all half shouted and came over giving her a hug or high five, Mel and I chuckled in amusement.

Toll went to the fridge and pulled out the case of beer bringing the whole thing over and put it on the coffee table. They each grabbed one and we settled down a little as we waited for Lee to show up.

"How've you been Mel?"Toll asked her, though he probably had an idea already he wanted her to answer him so he could get a feel for how she really was.

"Alright, it gets a little better each day. How about all of you?"she replied, I could tell she was telling the truth.

"Missed you like crazy!"Hale answered loudly and Gunnar added,

"Lee almost drove us crazy."he said we all heard clear as day.

"I heard that!"Lee called to him from the doorway and we all laughed out loud.

I grinned as Lee sat down between Hale and Toll, looking to Melanie;she was happy. I didn't blame her the team was whole again and happy together.

"You ready Melanie?"Lee asked, his eyes showed eagerness to get going with the knife throwing contest.

"I'm always ready, ready to beat you."she replied taunting him as she got up and headed over to the knife board; we all followed.

"In your dreams Cole, how are we doing this?"he retorted, their contests were different than others.

Melanie didn't answer at first thinking on it,

"Come on Mel, we need to know where to enjoy our beer."Hale said urging her to hurry up.

"Sit at the tables guys, we're going to do a PDS contest."she said grinning.

I grinned, "This ought to be good."I said taking my chair and sitting to the side of the board. PDS meant place, distance and a called shot; three missed shots and you lose. I knew Melanie was better at this, she won no matter what Lee did and it got to be pretty funny sometimes.

"Fine, ladies first. Side of the pool table, at the back, bottom of the board."Lee told her.

It wasn't a bad place for the first shot, the pool table was about fifteen feet away. She'd make it, no problem.

Melanie moved to the spot, eyed her target and threw her knife. It landed in the middle on the lower end of the board, I clapped along with the others.

"Your turn, Bud Light beer sign, front of it, left side of the board."she said smiling.

Lee made his shot, and they continued on.

"Barney, Melanie's doing alright man. She's going to be fine." Toll commented to me.

I nodded as Mel another shot much to Lee's shock, she laughed. My phone rang and I went outside to take it.

"Barney Ross."Church answered after I said hello.

"What do you want Church? We don't owe you anymore." I told him.

"You're right, but an old buddy of yours does and he contacted me to get you and your little friends on it."he told me.

"Who?"I asked.

"Remember Micheal Kross?"he asked in reply, Kross stuck out to me and I pictured him in my mind.

"Yeah I remember Kross, what does he need us to do?"I said, not coming up with a reason ,myself.

"Ask him yourself, you're going to meet him at Rosewood Park tomorrow morning, eight sharp. See ya Ross."he told me and hung up.

I pocketed my phone and went back inside,

"It's impossible Melanie, just give up."Lee said and I saw Melanie standing in the corner and the board was on the same wall.

I leaned against the wall to watch before I told them about the call and Kross.

Melanie held her knife in her left hand away from her body and stretched towards the ground, I knew what she would do but it was risky.

She flicked her wrist and the knife hit the left side of the board, the guys cheered and I smiled.

'She's good.'I thought impressed.

"Barney, what's up?"Melanie asked me, I cracked a smile.

"Got a meeting with a client tomorrow morning."I replied.

"Finally, no more sitting around house."Yang commented, we all chuckled.

"Your shot Lee, doorway, top of the board."Mel spoke up.

"Don't miss."I told him as he took his position.

"Yeah."he muttered lining up his shot.

He threw his knife and it looked good but it hit the bottom of the board instead of the top.

"Mel wins!"Hale shouted, Lee frowned.

Melanie was smiling happily, as Toll gave her a celebratory hug and spun her around.

"Damn."Lee muttered, I looked to him confused, he wasn't usually a sore loser.

"What?"I asked stepping next to him.

He ran a hand over his face, "I bet Melanie in our last contest if I lost again, I'd do anything she wanted for an entire day."he replied not sounding too happy about it.

"Does she remember that?"I asked, he shrugged and walked away to grab his knife.

Lee's POV

I took my knife out of the board and put it away,

"Good job Mel."I told her,

"You too."she said and punched my arm playfully.

I went back to the sitting area and grabbed another beer, the others joined me, except Melanie.

"Sorry guys but I need to get home, good luck with the mission. See ya later."she told us and waved good bye.

We all waved back,

"See ya Mel, be good while we're gone."Toll told her, she nodded and went out the door.

Not long after I got a text, _"Christmas, I didn't forget our last bet, pay me back when you can."_

I sighed inwardly since things were kind of awkward between us right now, and drank half my beer.

Barney's POV

I guess Mel made sure to tell Lee she remembered the bet too, considering he didn't look happy after reading the text.

"Tough break."I told him,

"You're not helping."he snapped at me, but I didn't mind.

"Oh really? Mel seemed to think so."I told him, he looked at me with interest.

I couldn't tell him exactly what Melanie said but I could tell him one thing.

"You made the right choice."I told him, he smiled and nodded connecting the dots.

"Who's the client?"he asked.

"An old friend of mine, Micheal Kross."I replied,

"Are you serious?"Toll demanded.

"Yep, he's our client. You got a problem Toll?"I replied, needing to know if there would be conflict between the two.

"No, I have to go."he said and hurried out, his bike roared down the street in Melanie's direction.

**Hope you like it, please review!**


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